We have rather brash vendors who has recommended a lock out agreement with a deposit 10k. Are such agreements sensible?

Lock out agreements are agreements between a property owner and prospective acquirer granting the buyer exclusive rights to the sale of the property for a set period of time. Essentially, a lock out agreement is a contract stating that you should have a contract at a later date which is the contract for the actual sale. It tends to be used for buyer confidence though in some cases, the vendor may enjoy an upside from such agreements as well. There are various pros and cons to having an agreement but you should to check with your conveyancer but note that it may result in incurring extra in conveyancing fees. For this these agreements are not popular in relation to conveyancing in Birkenhead.

I purchased a freehold house in Birkenhead but still pay rent, why is this and what is this?

It is rare for properties in Birkenhead and has limited impact for conveyancing in Birkenhead but some freehold properties in England (particularly common in North West England) pay an annual sum known as a Chief Rent or a Rentcharge to a third party who has no other legal interest in the land.

Rentcharge payments are usually between £2.00 and £5.00 per year. Rentcharges have existed for many centuries, but the Rent Charge Act 1977 barred the creation of fresh rentcharges from 1977 onwards.

Old rentcharges can now be redeemed by making a one off payment under the Act. Any rentcharges that are still in existence after 2037 will be dispensed with completely.

We are selling our flat in Birkenhead. Does my lawyer have to be on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel in order to deal with redeeming my mortgage?

Ordinarily, even if your lawyer is not on the Bank of Ireland conveyancing panel they can still act for you on your sale. It might be that the lender will not release the original deeds (if applicable and increasingly irrelevant) until after the mortgage is paid off. You should speak to your lawyer directly before you start the process though to ensure that there is no problem as lenders are changing their specifications fairly frequently at the moment.

My wife and I have arranged the release of further funds on our home loan from Co-operative as we want to carry out improvements to our property in Birkenhead. Are we obliged to choose a local Birkenhead solicitor on the Co-operative conveyancing panel to handle the legals?

Co-operative do not ordinarily instruct a member of their conveyancing panel to deal with such a matter. If they do require any legal work then you would need to ensure that such a lawyer was on the Co-operative list.

I am purchasing a property in Birkenhead. A rare aspect is that the roof has a solar panel. Virgin Money have issued a mortgage offer so presumably this is not a concern to them. Why is my solicitor raising questions about the panel?

As you are obtaining a mortgage with Virgin Money your lawyer must check the formal instructions set out in Section 2 of UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook for Virgin Money. The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook stipulates minimum provisions for solar panel roof-space leases, and conveyancers are required to report to Virgin Money where a lease does not meet these conditions. The specifications relate to the installation of panels on properties in England and Wales and is not isolated to Birkenhead.

I had an offer accepted on an apartment in Birkenhead on 16/7/2025, valuation was booked 2 days later, received a clean bill of health. Property lawyer instructed, so the only thing outstanding was my mortgage offer. Having made daily calls to Lloyds and chasing them on my offer, I have now been told that my offer will not be issued unless the lawyer is on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. Are Lloyds entitled to hold back the Mortgage pending the lawyer being on the approved list?

Mortgage companies tend not to not issue a mortgage until they have details of a lawyer on their panel. It can take a few weeks for Lloyds to deal with your lawyer's application to be on the Lloyds conveyancing panel. There's no guarantee that your solicitor will be accepted.

Over the last few months I have been searching for a leasehold apartment up to £245,000 and identified one round the corner in Birkenhead I like with amenity areas and station nearby, the downside is that it only has 61 years on the lease. There is not much else in Birkenhead for this price, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?

Should you need a home loan the shortness of the lease will likely be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the existing owner has owned the premises for a minimum of 2 years you could request that they start the process of the extension and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing solicitor regarding this.